Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-08-06

shared In the drowsiness Of the night, and as ye
there are but few signs OF awakening. TIT
Waiting for the arrival Of the relief The quiet O
the scene, however, Is presently broken by tht
smartly at one OF the basenasSt entranceS Thsff
men in heavy wooden shirts dismount and begin x
draw out from the wagon great blocks OF ice
ward tie basement door, ana are drawn inside
One cake follows another until you begin to i'm
agine that the atmospbere has absorbed an Arctls
when one wagon is emptied another hufries ur
and the unloading process goes on. You think
that it Is q peculiar time to lag in
SUPPLY OF ICE
for the summer and so you follow Along the icy
path rather enjoying the experience after the hot
dry night You look into the doorway and sec
that when the blocks OF loo come inside they are
detained for few moments until they can be
weighed, and are then SLID On to the ice-box, an
The Department officials stand at the scale to see
that the weight is all right. This scene is repeated
there is more ice delivered. A contract is made
with some ice man to supply oil the ice needed By
the Departments for year They are paid 90 much
about 25 cents per 100. Owing to the UNUSUAL hot
weather OF the past month, the consumption OF ice
Gadnss about SoS se m
each day during the spring ana summer. In the
winter the consumption is about ons-thtrd lesa
During the past month the amount OF ice used BY
some OF the Departments has reached nearly
TWO TONS DAT.
Two tons OF solid, frozen water placed IN the
basement OF these buildings each dayi It would
that that ought to serve in itself to keep the
temperature down. Perhaps 1t would If 1t had q
ice has been placed in the ice-box when rang OF
laOOfers and messengers make an assault. They
come armed With great Ice picks, and carrying
way and that way. They are split into pieces,
which vary all the way from IL pounds to pound.
when the Sssauting picks rest nom their iaSors
The gang of men, with their pals filled with
broken pieces OF ice, scatter through the great
they enter, one after another, the rooms In one
room they find water cooler. In another room
On ice pitcher Nearly every room is supplied
are filled up with ice. When the clerks reach the
Department they find ice-water ready for their
When the weather is very warm Il Is found neces
sary to refill the coolers and pitchers again in the
In the Interior Department, for example during
the month OF June the consumption OF ice was
about $500 pounds per day, while during the past
month it was about 5000 pounds per day. These
ngures do not include the supply furnished to the
Pension Bureau or to the Geological Survey. These
1900 pounds OF ice daily supply the needs OF some
little more than two pounds per day. At the con-
tract price paid by the Department, each employe
consumes nearly
HALF CENTS WORTH
Of ice each day. This, however includes the con-
sumption OF Ice water by the visitors ana the OUT
siders who may have business in the Department.
The Government does not provide any other liquid
refreShment for its employees. The iced tea lemon
ade or mint tulips which Government officials may
find necessary in order to enable them to perform
their duties during the heated term must be paid
for from their private means, unless the law gov
erning the disbursement OF the contingent fund Is
literally construed. There have been no known
cases where, in theexpenditure OF this FUND, file
holders and lemonade have been found to be
regarded as identical terms and the money appro.
priated for the former purpose has been used in
the purchase Of the latter 1t Is not believed that
this latitude In construction prevails to any extent
In the Departments at present, and In consequence
the officials are restricted On1cially TO cod-water
refreshments.